The Smithsonian Fully Restored Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Spacesuit

Several years ago, the Smithsonian began a crowd-funded project to restore Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit prior to the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. With over $700,000 raised, they set to their task — meticulously documenting and digitizing everything along the way. This year, on July 16th (exactly 50 years since the mission’s launch), they’re putting that iconic NASA spacesuit on display to the public.

A part of a larger “Apollo 50” event courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, the suit is actually destined to become a part of a permanent “Destination Moon” exhibit to be finished in 2020. Alongside Armstrong’s suit, a number of other Apollo artifacts will be on display — including the Columbia command module, unopened freeze-dried space food packages that actually went up on the craft, sample return containers, medical kits, and so much more. And while these objects can be seen inside the Smithsonian, there will be other festivities around Washington DC throughout the extent of the event.